Banana Split Cupcakes & Whoopie Pie Success!

Of everything I bake, cupcakes are the most fun for me. This is because you don’t simply bake cupcakes. You need to apply some sort of artistic vision to your cupcake, and it’s quite a process! Conceptualization, baking, building, decorating … there are a lot of steps to making cupcakes but I think the work really shows when it looks and tastes tip top.

Cupcakes are fun additionally because you can get all kinds of quirky with them! With this cupcake, I felt like doing something a little nostalgic and fun. It always seems like I’m chasing after some memory of a 50’s diner which I never experienced (but enjoy the idea of), what with my Root Beer Float cupcakes and now these Banana Split Cupcakes.

How adorable did these turn out? All that’s missing are the sundae peanuts in my opinion.

Now, being based on a banana split these could have gone a few ways. A traditional banana split (I have expert knowledge from working at an ice creamery :P) is one scoop of vanilla with pineapple topping, one scoop chocolate with hot fudge topping, and one scoop strawberry with strawberries on top, nestles between a banana split lengthwise, topped with whipped cream, peanuts, and a maraschino cherry. I think trying to incorporate all of these elements would be utterly disastrous. I thought about swirling vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry cake together and filling it with banana cream, but I’ve had historically bad results when baking two cake flavours together. I opted to just go for a banana cake and let fillings and toppings cover the other flavour elements!

Okay, so the inside doesn’t look so glamorous, but holy moly these were delicious. Adding them to the menu under CUPCAKES & CAKES 🙂

I also went out on another limb and tried making WHOOPIE PIES for the first time (and two years behind the trend, mind you). Okay. Call me crazy, but I was scared to make whoopie pies for the longest time.

Actually, they just weird me out altogether.

I’ve eaten them before and I guess they’re good, but something about them is just odd! Maybe it’s the name. WHOOPIE. WHOOOOPEEEEEE. Also, how is it even remotely akin to a pie? This misnomer contributes to my confused state. They are texturally strange to me, because they look as if they should be tougher like sandwich cookies due to the shape but when you bite into them, they’re unexpectedly soft little cakes. Anyways, I conquered my fears and golly, am I glad that I did. These were yummy and a nice change from simple cupcakes or cookies! I just made a plain chocolate whoopie pie, but added in some espresso and sandwiched salted caramel buttercream in between those delicious cakey buns. I brought them over to a friendly gathering for testing and they were very well received. The only issue I had with these is that I underestimated the expansion of the cakes and they got quite large. The pies turned out almost as big as baseballs! Not like the cute and dainty little ones at Starbucks 😦 that being said, I think for a first try they were successful! I will definitely be making these again and trying out some new flavours!

Oh, by the way. I think that I found the perfect peanut butter cookie. I don’t want to speak too soon before testing out my recipe a few more times for consistency, but I have a goooood feeling.

Thanks for taking the time to amuse yourself with my odd musings. Adios cookie monsters! Until next time 🙂